A DOG AND HARE STORY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1330, 17 March 1883, Page 3

A DOG AND HARE STORY.

The world is constantly reminded of the sagacity of dugs in a variety of ways, but! there ia one of thtrspeoies-atOleriuont-Forrand, in France, whine, extraordinary intelligence recently received flattering mention from a scientific gentleman i writing iu the Revue Internationale ties Tciencea, This dog, which belongs to a cafi-keeper, in now three years of age, and has nothing remarkable in his outward appearance excepting "an unusual devotion in the chest." He is a gifted creature, nevertheless, and not only understands the language of our race with wonderful quickness, but has actually been taught to speak I When his maßter wants his pipe, his tobacco jar, a knife, n fork, or any other article, be has but to say the word, and the uumial fetches what is required, although it may be the first time he has heard the word pronounced. If an inmate of the house romarks " Ja'i.j froid aux pieds" in the animal's hearing, j he at nnce sets off in quest of a warm poii i of simpers; or if the mistress of the household it looking for a pair of scisßors, he detects her' want and supplies ii. Resides theso requirements, he is commissioned to do the daily marketing, and ■does it particularly well, But his crowning achievement is that he can speak, If wo are to believe the contribute to the scientific review, he has been taught to utter distinctly two words, "Ma maman," and his owner boliev'es that, with time, his vocabulary willbeincreased. -Infinite pains are being taken with this clever dog by his master, and if those pains have already beon so well repaid by the process which the animal lias mad?, it ib certainly an inducement to continue his education, The following very remarkable adventures of a hare, which we find related in the sober columns of the Paris Univera, are worth giving, especially an the journal quoted from vouches for the absolute truth of the story, A gentloman living at Hiisen, in the Department' of Aisne, was out on a sporting expedition, and in full chase after a hare which he perceived scudding across a common. Suddenly he lost sight of the animal in a very unaccountable way the mystery, however, being cleared up later on by sduie other persons, who were able to furnish the sequel to the opening chapter of the story, The hurt, in its headlong career, caught sight of a carriage which was going at a slow pace along the road skirting the plain, He jumped into tho conveyance unperceived by the ' driver,, and lay down in a basket beside a defunct member of his species, which had just' beon given to the occupant of the vehicle by n sporting acquaintance, The owner of the dead hare was naturally much MStonished to find a live one in the same basket when he reached home; but before he had time to think how it had come there the terrified animal made his escape, and was soon out of sight, A few hours afterwards he was again heard of. He had entered a neighbor's (garden, fuund his. way into the kitchen, and, thrown quite out of his reckoning by the strange surroundings, had taken shelter in a huge stew pan containing some potatoes and a small quantity of waior. Here he remained unnoticed; but in course of time the pan was taken up and placed on the lire, the lid having been first put on without the servant remarking that there nay anything under the veitetables in it, A few minutes later she was startled by a most extraordinary noise proceeding from the pan, in which the poor hare was undergoing a culinary operation little to his taste; and before she could summon enough courage to ascertain what was in it, the lid was thrown off, and the frightened hare leaped out, bounding away for fresh quarters, which happened to be the cella . Endeavors were mad e by the assemb nl household to oapture the ''grosse Liu" which, the servant declared, was 11 a " kind she had never seen before;" but once again the hare succeeded in affectim; his eaoape, only allowing those who caught Bight of him time enough to ascertain that the mysterious " grosse bete" was nothing more uncanny than a hare entertaining a very I natural dislike to be cooked alive.

Mr J. A. Tole was reelected to the Board of Governors of the Auckland College and Grammar Soliool by the Senate of the New Zealand University on Tuesday. The Senate also agreed to the request of the Auckland College for affiliation.

The other day a party left Auckland in & yacht, for the purpose of ascending Bangitoto.Alandingontheßangitotoehore was successfully effected, but after going ashore way up one of the lava streams, they gave up the conundrum, and retired to the beach sadder and wiser men. At the New York Post Office it has been found that the average life of a Maxin incandescent lamp (the ordinary fifty candle power type) is nearly 1900 hours. About 25 per cent, of the lamps in this office have burnt between 3000 and 4000 hours.

At Carlsruhe, in Germany, an usurer, knownaa Ihr "Vampire of Hiernheira," has just been sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, a fine of £4OO, and five years' Ipsa of civil tights, (or extorting £\B and two calves from a peasant in return fpr an original loan of 13. An English paper to hand by the mail reports a case of villanous cruelty, To stfell the udder of. a milch cow at a country fair, a farmer closed the leats with caustic, The poor brute died in excruciating agony, but the monster in human formwas let off with the tremendous fine of i' 3.